Report: Apple Watch 2 With GPS, Better Battery Coming This Year

KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo's latest report tips a product launch in the second half of 2016.

Notoriously tight-lipped about its products, Apple remains mum about a second-gen Apple Watch.

But KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has high hopes for a product launch in the second half of 2016.

According to MacRumors, Kuo on Sunday issued a research to investors stating that the so-called Apple Watch 2 will feature a faster processor, GPS, barometer, better waterproofing, and a higher capacity battery. Once-rumored LTE connectivity, however, is not expected until 2017, the analyst said.

Internal upgrades, meanwhile, are unlikely to reflect the overall design. Despite utilizing thinner display technology, the next wearable will remain the same in terms of screen size and thickness, Kuo suggested.

The Apple Watch 2 rumor mill has been churning for more than a year: Just two months after the smartwatch hit shelves in 2015, reports tipped a second-generation version with a video camera for FaceTime and Wi-Fi chip—neither of which were mentioned in Kuo's report.

By August 2015, Cupertino was crowned the No. 2 wearable vendor in the world, behind Fitbit.

While iFans await the next Apple Watch iteration, Cupertino continues to push updates to current models. WatchOS 3 is slated to arrive this fall, boasting speedier app load times thanks to a new "dock," which can instantly launch built-in and third-party programs.

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Other UI tweaks include the ability to swipe up from the bottom to view the Control Center, the new Scribble feature that translates drawn letters into text, and more customization.

The smartwatch is becoming increasingly popular among consumers, according to a recent NPD Group report. Though health-conscious fitness trackers still lead the pack, accounting for more than double the smartwatch base, the gap is narrowing.